Six Months After Quitting Smoking: My Story

It's Been 6 Months

I have now been smoke-free for a full six months, thanks to successfully completing a smoking-cessation course called Nicotine Solutions.

I feel absolutely great, especially as the course didn't require the use of any drugs, patches, gum etc. It was completed entirely via weekly live phone calls between Lela Bryan (the founder of Nicotine Solutions), and other people who wanted to stop smoking in various locations around the world. In other words, the course could be completed from our own homes via either a Skype connection, or with Lela phoning your normal telephone using her Skype connection.

Now that I've reached the six-month mark, I am aware of many changes in my day-to-day life as a result of no longer having the body pumped full of tar, smoke and cancer-causing chemicals. Firstly I have loads more energy than before, I am finding myself waking up earlier in the day, and without that horrible stale taste in my mouth. My skin looks brighter and less dull, my teeth are no longer stained with nicotine (as I had them descaled after I stopped smoking, and now there is no danger of the staining returning). My hair is shinier than before and seems to be far healthier, my sense of taste has dramatically awakened and I now realise what I have been missing out on for the last 20 years as a result of my a 20-plus-cigarette-per-day habit.

One of the most noticeable changes is my sense of smell is far more sensitive. I never cease to alarmed at how awful a smoker smells when they come back after having had a cigarette. It horrifies me to think I used to smell like that and was naïve enough to think I could simply suck a mint to cover up the smell of the smoke on my breath. I guess I forgot about the smell lingering in my clothes, my hair and still on my breath in spite of the mints! I can now smell a smoker several hours after they last had a puff, and believe me, it is not an attractive scent.

As many of you may know, in the past I had tried virtually all the other known methods to stop smoking, accupuncture, willpower, patches, inhalators, hypnosis, Zyban, Champix, Alan Carr's book etc etc etc. None of these worked for me, and I was rapidly getting more and more depressed at the level my Nicotine addiction had reached, plus losing hope that there was even a solution out there that would work for me. It was only by sheer chance I read an article by Lela Bryan here on hubpages about how to stop smoking. I quickly left a comment essentially saying "Help".

Lela was great. within a day or so she came back to me and said she could help me, and that she had helped hundreds of people to stop smoking over the years. Naturally I was a little bit skeptical at first snd had concerns over the likely success of such a course, but Lela assured me she had over a 90% success rate. Finally I decided it had to be worth a try as I had little to lose and everything to gain, plus my Husband and I were unsuccessfully trying for a baby and felt the smoking was probably not helping our chances and could be contributing to my infertility.

As a smoker it is truly hard to imagine being able to stop purely based on a course. You can't help doubting the possibility of it working when you know you have tried all the known methods of quitting smoking without any success. It is only when you begin living the course week by week and following the methods, advice and techniques that Lela teaches, that you begin to see and feel how this will work.

For the first six weeks you continue to smoke with the Nicotine Solutions Course, and this is important if the course is going to work for you. It is a mistake to simply try to stop cold turkey, and you are almost definitely doomed to fail if you try this method, leaving you filled with self loathing over your own failure and believing that you are never going to be free of this horrible habit.

Yes there are day to day tasks and exercises to follow in order to achieve the outcome of being a true non-smoker by the end of the course, but these are all part of achieving the success you desire. I followed the course to the letter for the most part, and am so glad I did as I am now comfortable in my new persona of being a 'smoke free' person.

Our home smells better, I feel, and look, healthier. When we finally go for a mortgage, our life insurance will be virtually half the price of that of a smoker. Our cottage has been redecorated and no longer has the nicotine stained walls, plus the car is also a far cleaner and nicer smelling vehicle to travel in.

I don't wake myself up in the mornings by coughing uncontrollably, inevitably ending up retching in the process, plus my bank account balance suddenly seems to be a whole load more healthy too!

My mother (as well as the rest of my family), finally have got off my case and no longer need to nag me to stop smoking. The best part of this is my mother has stopped presenting me with armfuls of newspaper cuttings about the perils of smoking, (as if I didn't know the dangers already). Believe me when I say this has not only reduced any arguments I have had with my family, but has also alleviated their stress levels now they no longer need to worry so much about my health and the risks my continuing to smoke was causing. I used to try to explain to them that Quitting Smoking is something you have to do when you alone are ready, and not because your family try to emotionally blackmail you into it, but it is really difficult to make a non-smoker understand this. Only a former smoker may be able to identify with the need for you personally to truly want to stop smoking, but for yourself, not because everyone else wants you to.

Lela taught us not to think of it as "Quitting Smoking" or "Giving Up" smoking, as this implies that smoking is enjoyable, when clearly it isn't. Far better to simply refer to it as "Stopping Smoking". You will always get some die hard smokers (forgive the pun), who will try to say they enjoy their cigarettes, but they are not being true to themselves when they say this. Having analysed thoroughly each cigarette I smoked during the course, I soon realised there was nothing enjoyable about the experience, not the taste, not the effects, not the price, in fact there was nothing I could single out as being the so called "enjoyable" part of smoking.

Another trick I learned was to never refer to having had "a craving" for a cigarette. It is okay to recognise that you thought of a cigarette, or it crossed your mind, but again, referring to it as "a craving" is to make the same mistake as calling stopping smoking, "giving up" or "quitting". At first this can be a hard lesson to get through to yourself, but keep on reminding yourself of this fact, and if you do decide to try the Nicotine Solutions Course for yourself, then pay close attention to what Lela tells you to do. You will get out exactly what you put in, in terms of effort and will quickly learn that stressful situations do not feel, or get, any better from having a cigarette or any kind of Nicotine "fix". Your mind may trick you into believing that a cigarette will calm you down or reduce your stress and anxiety levels, but in actual fact smoking a cigarette will speed up your heart rate and put your body under more stress. It is only the Nicotine receptors in your brain that make you believe otherwise.

Smoking comes with so many horrible risks and problems, especially with regard to the potentially life threatening health risks from such horrors as Lung Cancer, Strokes, High Blood Pressure etc.

For those couples trying for a baby, smoking can seriously effect fertility in both male and female partners. Smoking when pregnant poses a significant and highly dangerous risk to the unborn child, and even if it survives the gestation period, it is very likely to be born underweight, less healthy and with lower intelligence than if born to a non-smoking Mother. Needless to say smoking in a home where children are present is also a big no no, and should really be illegal by now in my opinion.

Smoking can cause male impotence and reduced stamina, and that is if you can find a women who wants to have sex with a man who smells of old musty ashtrays and wakes her up the following day with a hacking, nasty sounding smoker's cough!

Think of Your Children!

Apart from all of the above points, it is worth thinking of any children you may already have. Imagine the horror for them of watching you die a slow and painful death from lung Cancer or any other smoking related disease.

Think of the risk that they may be influenced by watching you smoke, and could copy you by taking up this fatal habit themselves.

Consider any inheritance you might be planning on leaving to them, and ask yourself if you would rather your children had this money, or it was burnt into ashes to line a tobacco companies bank accounts?

So to end this article I can only say that I feel liberated, healthy and proud to have come this far without even finding the process of stopping smoking difficult. I totally have to thank Lela for this, and her ongoing support is always there if I need it, (although I have been fortunate enough not to need it for a long time now as the course was so effective in the first place).

I hope to write another article after I have been smoke free for 12 months, just to prove to any doubting smokers out there as to how effective the Nicotine Solutions Course really is. I would also love to be able to say by then that I am pregnant with a healthy, smoke free baby, but only time will tell if that dream also comes to pass.

Good luck to all of your who are either planning to stop smoking, or already have stopped using whatever method worked for you.

Comments

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sending

Vito 3 weeks ago

The plain honest truth is that you are most definitely NOT doomed to fail if you try cold turkey. It cuts to the heart of the matter. Why delay the inevitable with pussy footing around it. Pick up your gear and MARCH soldier. I can understand people wanting to wean off of it slowly, and work at their own pace but eventually you will have to throw down your crutches and walk. The only way this method fails is if you are ignorant about addictions and how they work. People fail not because of the lack of efficacy of quitting cold turkey but they fail because they bent to the will of the nicotine in a moment of weakness and took another puff. In other words they re introduced nicotine back into the blood stream after having experienced some success and along with it complacency. The belief that you can safely have a puff but not return to the full blown 2 pack a day habit. Cold turkey is the best method there is; the quickest method and the most successful method.

Author

Cindy Lawson 4 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

Hi Alan, I really feel so much better after stopping smoking, and yes, it has saved me a small fortune even though cigarettes in Guernsey are a bit cheaper than the UK, and cost about £5.50 a packet now I believe. I do have loads of hobbies which this helps to subsidise, but the main hobby for me has to be growing vegetables and showing/selling them. I spend an arm and a leg each year on compost, seeds, ploughing, plant feeds, horticultural sand etc etc, but still less than I ever spent on smoking. So pleased that I stopped when I did as I was spending over £30 a week on smoking at the time.

Speaking of growing vegetables I must go and pick some beans now before they go stringy. Unfortunately it is chucking it down with rain. Never mind, I guess that is the price I pay for having an outdoor hobby :)

Catch up soon

Regards

Cindy

Almorr 4 years ago

Amazed about all those hubs you have mistyhorizon, very busy lady, congratulations on quitting smoking, you will save a lot of money for your other hobbies you have like fishing and making ginger beer, I was in my local shop buying a bottle of ginger beer and noticed how expensive the fags were (cigarettes to be polite) some are as much as £7 for 20. If I smoked, (never have) 20 a day that would be, £49 a week or just under £200 a month, I would not be able to pay for Broadband or any other things I like, such as cycling and listing to CD's I notice you stopped smoking three and a half years ago, once again congratulations

I will definitely be reading your hub too. Well done and keep up the good work :)

Efficient Admin 4 years agofrom Charlotte, NC

What a great article mistyhorizon and Congratulations on your Quit! I went through this myself and wrote a hub on it. I will be quit 7 months on 9/1/12. Whenever I smell cigarette smoke it just smells hidious and makes me want to keep being a non-smoker. I hope you get some time to read my hub. From a fellow quitter - Hooray for you!!

Author

Cindy Lawson 5 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

Thanks Kenneth, I really appreciate that. Off to read it now :)

Kenneth Avery 5 years agofrom Hamilton, Alabama

Misty, I am very tired now. Just finished the comment you asked for me to share on "So You Want to Commit Suicide?" and it was lenghy, but also true. I join you in trying to save ONE person. And after all, how can you price tag a human soul? God bless and use you, Misty!

Author

Cindy Lawson 5 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

Thanks Kenneth, that would be great. I spend a huge amount of my time answering comments on that hub and trying to convince people that life can get better if they give it a chance and help make it happen. A number of commenters have thanks me for saving their life that day, but many others just don't seem to want to help themselves and are determined life is not worth living.

Kenneth Avery 5 years agofrom Hamilton, Alabama

Dear Misty, I will take care of your request in a short while. Thanks for the invite and I do hope ONE person reads and is helped. We are only vessels, conduants for positive or negative energy in this world....I have realized that although positive energy and deeds are best, they do come with the sure reality of "us" being sometimes running upstream while others are going downstream. But its worth it.

Author

Cindy Lawson 5 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

Well done Kenneth, it doesn't matter how you achieved it, the point is that you did and I am proud of you for turning your life around so completely for the better. I wish you would post your story on my Suicide Hub in the comments as it might just inspire some of the people who post there and simply can't see a way to escape their spiral of self destruction. Even if you weren't suicidal yourself, the fact you are living proof that people can change their lives for the better might just inspire a suicidal person to give life another try themselves.

If in any small way I helped you to get where you are today then I am delighted I justified my place on this earth in some small way.

Keep up the good work :)

Kenneth Avery 5 years agofrom Hamilton, Alabama

12/2...Dear Misty...I was talking about being a successful hubber using YOUR advice, which I am doing, but also being tobacco, alcohol, and illegal drug FREE...how did I do this...you wont believe this, but I simply got down to harsh facts with Jesus. Yes, Jesus. He is NOT a religious cold-piece of stone in some church building....I cried some, yelled some and even got angry...not at Him, but at ME for being so unbridled stupid as to give myself away to these deadly substances...now I know by now you think I am sound much like the prude and Holier Than Thou..stop. No, I am a struggling fleshy mortal with flaws, weaknesses and cracks in my walls that are being repaired daily. I am so thankful to get up of a day and NOT hit the outside for a cigarette or three...a drink or three and think that my grandkids are NOT watching...do you understand me now? I never said it was EASY. But then again, things worth doing or having always come with sacrifice and work. Thanks, dear Misty, for listening. And it was nice to talk to one of the very-first hubwriters I met. Thanks also for your good advice...KENNETH

Author

Cindy Lawson 5 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

Wow Kenneth, well done. Did you do it with Lela and Nicotone Solutions too then, I didn't know. Do let me know :)

Kenneth Avery 5 years agofrom Hamilton, Alabama

12/1...Misty...I do recall the above advice given to me by you in above comment. Thanks. I dont recall if I properly thanked you sufficiently or not. In case I fell short, "MANY THANKS, Misty!" Kenneth

Author

Cindy Lawson 5 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

I am now coming up to 3 years without smoking Kim. If you falter in any way I urge you to get in touch with Lela. Her method is easy, and is not 'cold turkey' or requiring the need for patches, NRT etc. It simply works, hard to explain, but it just does, and her 90% + success rate (with hardly anyone returning to smoking later on) proves it. Sorry to say it, but ecigs, patches etc I have zero faith in. Neither stop you using nicotine, and the ecig is the worst because it doesn't even help you break the 'hand to mouth' habit.

Speak to Lela, she will give you a free session and she will answer all your questions and concerns. Tell her I sent you.

Good Luck

Kim Cantrell 5 years agofrom Deep In The Pages of a Book

Ten days ago I was suddenly overcome with fear that if I didn't quit smoking I wouldn't be here to see my youngest two children (7 & 2) graduate high school. I tried going cold turkey, but suffered horrible side effects. But I'm determined to quit. I'm using a eCig with low nicotine. Been successful for the full 10 days with it and have no desire for a "real" cigarette. I'm determined to start cutting this out soon too so I can be 100% free of nicotine forever!

Congrats to you! Your story is AWESOME!

Kenneth Avery 6 years agofrom Hamilton, Alabama

Thanks so much for the sagely advice. I am trying to do what you say, but time is against me so I have to do with what I have. I LOVE YOUR hubs...they are TRUE creativity in the pure sense. I am sincere.

Author

Cindy Lawson 6 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

Hi Kenneth, well firstly I am a female so you got that right :)

To get followers you need to read other people's Hubs, comment (genuinely) on those you find of interest, and then follow the relevant authors. DO NOT be tempted to do what so many new hubbers do, and randomly follow loads of other hubbers one after another. Seasoned Hubbers check you out, and do not automatically 'follow you back', so all you succeed in doing is making yourself look desperate for followers. You will also gain followers from intelligent interaction in the forums, answering comments left on your own Hubs, answering 'Questions' etc.

To give yourself a profile picture you simply need to upload one from your computer in the 'Edit Profile' section. If you no longer have that picture on your computer you will need to go to FB, right click on the photo you want to use, select 'save image as', and then choose a name and save it to a location on your computer where you can find it easily, (I use the Desktop). Then go back to Hubpages, edit profile, upload your profile image, select the relevant file you saved from FB, and click on 'upload'. This should do it as far as I can recall, (it has been a long time since I did this last).

LOL, good girl! Or is it good person? I dont want to be politically-ignorant. And would you be so knd as to tell me HOW I CAN GET FOLLOWERS? and How to get my profile photo moved from Facebook to My Hub sites?

Author

Cindy Lawson 6 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

Glad you enjoyed it Kenneth, and I for one am very pleased I no longer touch either 'weeds' or tobacco LOL.

Kenneth Avery 6 years agofrom Hamilton, Alabama

Misty: In a word LOVE this article! Humorous, but all too true. I am a non-smoker and non-drinker, but if I were still on the weeds, tobacco, I mean, THIS story would make me think of what harm I am doing to ME.

Thanks for sharing, MISTY!

Author

Cindy Lawson 6 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

Nicotine Solutions definitely works, and since I took the course I have been a non-smoker for two and a half years with no urge to return to it. I would highly recommend this course as a non-stressful way to stop smoking once and for all.

Thanks fucsia, it certainly makes you realise what you were doing to your body once you stop doesn't it ?

fucsia 6 years ago

A great article. I am a former smoker. I quit when I deeply understand what I was doing to my body and my mind. I like read Hub like this!

Author

Cindy Lawson 6 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

Thanks Bader Rashed, and well done for stopping smoking. I am now 'smoke free' for over 2 years thanks to Nicotine Solutions and Lela Bryan. I feel so much better, plus it has helped boost the bank balance.

Bader Rashed 6 years ago

Very good article, I like it alot and read it many time.

I was smoker for 30 year then i quit it without any tretment or help, just i was daily looking for apicture of 2 lungs one helthy anthor cancerd lung and i quit.

thanks for ur article

Quit Smoking 6 years ago

Never smoked in my life but my parents and grand parents do.

These pictures should be enough to put a person off for life, will attempt to get my family to look at this web page.

Fingers crossed it works this time. Although I'm not looking forward to the weeks of bad moods if they do quit.

Author

Cindy Lawson 7 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

Thanks for the lovely comment weedcigsmarijuana.

weedcigsmarijuana 7 years ago

The pictures speak a thousand words, thanks for a truly well prepared article and pictorial of why smoking is very dangerous. Thanks

Good luck with the rest of your life as a succesfull ex-smoker! I look forward to reading your hubs.

Author

Cindy Lawson 7 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

Hi Chemist, I hope you manage it as you will really feel so much better after a few months.

Chemist 7 years ago

the pics are threatening, lol

i'll try to quit smoking soon now

Author

Cindy Lawson 7 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

What method did you use to stop smoking Viki, as it sounds like you could do with the Nicotine Solutions course in order to take the stress of stopping away.You could always look at other options too, such as the electronic cigarette, I know a few people who are finding this works brilliantly for them. After 6 months your problems are only in your mind, as the nicotine dependence has long since gone, and the withdrawal from this is what makes you irritable normally.

Contact Lela using one of my links to Nicotine Solutions, I bet she can advise you and help you if you decide to follow up by joining one of her courses after speaking with her.

viki 7 years ago

Love your post, BUT... I am just shy of 6 months, and it feels like there is more weight day after day. I know that you are supposed to take it day by day, but it has felt like hour by hour lately. I feel more irritable and fight with others more and have uncontrollable fits more often... does anyone else? Afraid that if this trend continues that I lose my job and wife etc. Feels like as much as I hagte it smoking is a better alternative!

Author

Cindy Lawson 7 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

Thanks Fun Facts, I am delighted to say I am still Nicotine free nearly a year later too :)

fun facts about smoking 7 years ago

Good information thank you for posting, good information can be hard to come by kudos to you.

Author

Cindy Lawson 7 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

Sadly not funnebone, guess that one is slightly beyond my experience levels!!

funnebone 7 years agofrom Philadelphia Pa

You did a great job on this one. It made me have a craving ( oh sorry) for some crack....got a course for that!

Author

Cindy Lawson 7 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

Thanks hypnosis4u2, I feel so much better now, and this method was definitely the easiest I tried, (hence why I so strongly recommend it to others). I was truly in despair as to how to stop smoking having failed so many times, and using so many different methods, but thanks to Lela and a plea for help I made on one of her articles, I am now nearly 10 months smoke free, (11 months on 22nd November). Her method really works, and without any drugs. Easy as you could wish for.

hypnosis4u2 7 years agofrom Massachusetts

I'm so glad your method worked for you - hopefully others reading the hub will get the courage to quit for good and start a new life.

Author

Cindy Lawson 8 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

Good luck jiberish, I am sure you will make it if you keep trying. It will feel amazing when you reach 6+ months Nicotine Free.

jiberish 8 years agofrom florida

Excellent Article, and gross pictures. I'm on day 4 on my quest to stop smoking.I can't wait to be six months free.

Author

Cindy Lawson 8 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

Thanks Bard, great to see you here. Sorry about your friend Janice though, it really just isn't worth the risks is it!

Steve Andrews 8 years agofrom Lisbon, Portugal

Such brilliant news, Cindy! Well done!

I managed it "cold turkey" method nearly 20 years ago but it wasn't really cold turkey because I simply stopped and never started again and just kept priding myself on having done this.

I know what you said about "craving" and people who say they "enjoy" smoking is right for some because my former partner Janice who died a couple of years back said both these things - that she had cravings and that she enjoyed smoking too much!

Author

Cindy Lawson 8 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

Thanks Charia, it feels amazing to be free of such a horrible nasty addiction, and Lela made it all so painless for me to stop.

Charia Samher 8 years ago

Good you did it! And it's nice you are sharing the secret, many will benefit from this. Congrats by the way! =)

Author

Cindy Lawson 8 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

Thanks Dottie, yes I do feel absolutely great and my skin already has lost that dull greyish look that smoking tends to cause.

Dottie1 8 years agofrom MA, USA

I am soooooooo happy to hear that Lela's program worked for you. Doesn't it feel great? Don't you honestly feel and look 10/20 yrs. younger. I know I do since I stopped smoking. Congratulations to you Cindy! Stay healthy and may all your dreams come true. You are in inspiration to many! :)

Author

Cindy Lawson 8 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

Thanks Dewayne, I really do hope you manage it as you will feel so much better and empowered by beating this dreadful and dangerous habit. Good luck :)

Dewayne Hightower 8 years ago

im only age 20 and this article has convinced me to to stop smoking thank you very much and shame on the tabbaco companys

Author

Cindy Lawson 8 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

Thanks Addy85, glad you liked it :)

addy85 8 years ago

very nice article...

Author

Cindy Lawson 8 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

Hi Lela,

Great to see you here and I am delighted you approve of this hub. Of course it is all thanks to you that I am now in a position to write it :)

Lela Bryan 8 years agofrom Alameda, CA

WOW! What a great article about what you learned in Nicotine Solutions to stop smoking! I love your photos, you have a real knack of finding just the right picture!

I am so proud of you and I too hope that you get your wish of being able to have a happy healthy baby.

Thank you for all the wonderful comments about me and Nicotine Solutions. You were a joy to have in class and it is always wonderful to hear from you!!

I will put this hub on my website.

(By the way Ocbill I sent literature to President Obama long before he was elected but didn't hear back!)

I know I could help him.. You never know! I think he is too busy to smoke these days!!

Lela

Author

Cindy Lawson 8 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

Thanks ocbill, he probably could use this as it certainly makes stopping smoking a "walk in the park".

ocbill 8 years agofrom hopefully somewhere peaceful and nice

Yes, these pictures are great. maybe quitting smoking enhanced your artisitc levels. Could the president use this?

Author

Cindy Lawson 8 years agofrom Guernsey (Channel Islands)

Thanks to you all msorensson, Sunny22 and of course Sixty, really pleased you all liked this article :)

Clive Fagan 8 years agofrom South Africa

I am a non smoker but lived with smokers most of my lfe. Great work stopping smoking. Great article. well written as usual.